


You Raise Me Up

by BarbaLovesCarisi (CaptainAmericasShield)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: DA Rafael Barba, Established Relationship, M/M, Rafael Barba is absolutely Sonny's biggest supporter, Rafael calls Sonny mi amor and Sonny loves it, Sonny Carisi Deserves Better 2kForever, Sonny and Rafael are married, Sonny just needs a hug and some sleep, Supportive Husband Rafael Barba, The Undiscovered Country didn't happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:55:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21642553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainAmericasShield/pseuds/BarbaLovesCarisi
Summary: The Undiscovered Country never happened.  Jack McCoy hired Sonny as an ADA then promptly retired, leaving room for Rafael Barba to become the new DA.  He takes care of Sonny and supports him, even when no one else does.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	You Raise Me Up

**Author's Note:**

> I had to write this because people are still being mean to my son and I hate it. Sonny Carisi deserves better 2kForever. Also, DA Rafael Barba is my new favorite thing.

Rafael Barba looked up from the paperwork on his desk when he heard his door being opened. Only two people in the office were allowed to just walk in when he wasn’t on the phone- Alex and his husband. Sonny walked in and closed the door. Rafael stood up and met him in the middle of the room. Sonny looked upset, which wasn’t like him, unless something had really gotten to him at work.

“Dominick, mi amor,” Rafael started, his voice soft and comforting. “What happened?” Under normal circumstances he would have been more excited to see his husband. They hadn’t seen each other in three days. Sonny had been spending most of his time at the squad room after three cases came in that were all time sensitive. He’d had to stay at the squadroom, and they hadn’t seen each other in almost three days.

He led Sonny over to the small couch in his office and sat down, motioning for him to sit next to him. Sonny sat down and leaned back into the couch, sighing.

“I’m overwhelmed, I’m tired, I haven’t slept in almost three days, people are _still_ undermining me and act like I don’t know what I’m talking about. On top of that, Amanda called me stupid for believing her when she said she was happy for me when I got this job. I’m frustrated, and I just want to sleep, but I still have these arraignments in two days, and I don’t think I’ll be ready, and I feel like I’m under so much pressure to get everything right and get convictions, and–” Sonny was rambling, but Rafael quieted him with a kiss. He knew Sonny tended to ramble when he was overwhelmed. He knew Sonny was putting too much pressure on himself in an effort to impress him. He would always tell Sonny he was already impressed with him, and always would be.

“Dominick, mi amor, take a breath, okay? I understand you’re overwhelmed, I know you’re frustrated, and I can’t imagine how exhausted you must be. You’re still new at this, and people need to understand that. I can talk to Olivia if you want me to.”

“No,” Sonny responded quickly. I– you don’t have to do that Raf.”

Rafael nodded. “I won’t if you don’t want me to. However, people can’t keep disrespecting you. I know they think they can get away with things because I’m the DA, but you’ve worked too hard to be treated with this much disrespect. And another thing? You’re not stupid. You’re not stupid for believing your friend when she told you she was happy for you. You had absolutely no reason _not_ to believe her. I’m sure part of the reason she said that was because she’s running on very little sleep. That still doesn’t give her the right to try to guilt you into going back to SVU. If you’re happy, she should be happy for you. If she feels they’re understaffed, she should bring that up with 1PP, that has _nothing_ to do with you, and she needs to understand that.”

Sonny nodded. “She was upset I left _her_ . Not necessarily the squad in general, but _her,_ ” he paused before continuing. “Sorry, I– I’m just tired.”

“I know you are, mi amor. Do you want to try to sleep? I don’t think I have anything the rest of the afternoon,” Rafael said standing up and walking over to his computer to check his calendar. 

“I think so.”

After confirming he had nothing and sending a note to Carmen asking her to only come to him with things that needed to be taken care of that day, he walked back over to the couch and sat down on the far edge near the arm. Sonny laid down and put his head in Rafael’s lap, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Just try to sleep, mi amor,” Rafael said softly. “It’s been a long couple of days for you. You’ve been working yourself so hard, you deserve to take a break,” he continued, running one hand through his hair.

Sonny fell asleep in no time at all. Rafael’s heart broke. He hated that Sonny had been working himself so hard he hadn’t had time to sleep. He didn’t want to let him sleep too long and not be able to sleep that night. An hour passed with no interruptions, which Rafael was thankful for.

“Dominick, mi amor,” Rafael said, gently shaking him awake. Sonny stirred and opened his eyes, turning to look up at him.

“How long was I asleep?” he asked, sitting up and moving so he was sitting directly next to Rafael.

“About an hour. I didn’t want you to not be able to sleep tonight.”

Sonny nodded. “That’s fair.”

“Did that help at all?” Rafael asked, kissing his forehead.

“Honestly, yeah it did.”

“Good. I’m glad. I know it wasn’t much sleep, but I want you to be able to sleep through the night.”

“What time is it?”

Rafael looked at his watch. “About 4. I think I could get away with leaving an hour early,” he said with a smile.

He stood up and walked over to his desk, grabbing his briefcase and walking back over to Sonny.

“Raf?”

“Yes, mi amor?”

“Thank you. Thank you for everything. Thank you for supporting me and having my back when it seems like no one else does.”

“Dominick, you know I will always support you. I will always have your back no matter what.”

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“If I brought the files home, would you mind helping me prep for those arraignments?”

“Of course I wouldn’t mind. Why don’t you not bring them home tonight, then we can spend tomorrow at work and tomorrow night prepping. Tonight, you just need to sleep.”

Sonny nodded. “Thank you so much Rafa.”

“You know I’ll always be available to help you “

Sonny stood up and wrapped an arm around Rafael.

“God, I’m so tired.”

“I can imagine. Let’s go home and eat so you can eat and get to bed early. You need the sleep.”

Rafael walked out with Sonny, letting Carmen know he was leaving for the day. They walked home in relative silence, enjoying each other’s company. He knew Sonny was exhausted and wanted to let him sleep as long as he could.

When they got home, Sonny collapsed on the couch. Rafael smiled and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead before calling and ordering Chinese food.

“Try to stay awake another couple of hours, mi amor,” Rafael said, walking back over to the couch and sitting down next to him.

Sonny lifted his head and put it in Rafael’s lap.

“How much longer?”

Rafael looked at the clock. It was only 4:30. “Two and a half more hours. Do you think you can make it?”

Sonny stifled a yawn. “I mean, I’ve only slept an hour in the past three days, I think I can handle staying up another two and a half hours.”

“I’ll be here to wake you up if you need me to.”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Food?”

“Unless you’re expecting anyone else,” Rafael said laughing softly.

“I’m not, but I don’t know whether or not you are.”

“You need to sleep, mi amor. Why would I have _anyone_ over?”

Rafael stood up and checked to make sure it was in fact the food, then opened the door. He paid and took the food, closing and locking the door before going into the kitchen to grab two forks and some napkins and walking back to where Sonny was laying half-asleep on the couch.

“I know it’s not home cooked, but I just want you to get to bed and get a reasonable amount of sleep. I’ll try to cook something this weekend.”

“Honestly, I’ll take anything at this point, if it means I get to bed earlier.”

Rafael laughed softly. “I just want you to get as much sleep as you can. You’ve slept an hour in the past three days or so. You deserve to sleep. I know you’re overwhelmed, and I think the sleep will help you.”

They ate in silence. Rafael knew Sonny really wanted to get to bed, and knew if they did chat as they normally did, they’d be sitting there for hours. When they finished, Rafael cleaned up and rejoined Sonny on the couch.

“Can I go to bed yet?”

Rafael looked at the clock. It was only 6:30. “Another half hour, mi amor, then you can sleep.”

Sonny groaned. “That seems like a long time.”

“That’s because you’ve barely slept in the past three days,” Rafael responded, kissing the top of his head.

For Sonny, the next half hour went by at a snails pace. When it _finally_ hit 7:00, Sonny looked at Rafael expectantly.

“ _Now_ can I go to bed?”

Rafael laughed. “Now you can go to bed, mi amor.”

Sonny practically ran into the bedroom and got ready in about 30 seconds flat. He climbed into bed and waited for Rafael, who was not too far behind him.

Rafael climbed into bed and curled up against Sonny, draping his arm across his chest.

“Night Rafa,”

“Goodnight, mi amor. Sleep well,” Rafael said, giving him a quick kiss and closing his eyes. It was nice to have Sonny next to him again. He’d missed the company. He’d missed having his husband lying next to him in bed. It had felt lonely and empty without Sonny there. Work was important, but it was _very_ unlikely either of them would be gone for more than one night at any point. Sonny hadn’t been gone for multiple days on end since he was still a detective and had an unusually long undercover mission. Those nights, he’d go stay with Alex and Casey. He was lonely, and they didn’t want him to be alone.

It was still early, and he didn’t feel tired, so he lay there in silence, feeling his husband’s steady heartbeat and smiling to himself. He wasn’t surprised Sonny had fallen asleep so fast. The poor man had barely slept for three days. He knew better than anyone you could have a lot of sleepless nights as a prosecutor, but very rarely so many in a row, and very rarely that early in a career. He didn’t start going two plus days without sleep until at least five years in. He knew Sonny was eager to please and wanted to impress him more than anything. He told Sonny he would always be impressed by him, and he knew he would be a successful ADA.

Sonny slept through the night and only woke up when the alarm went off at 6AM. He stirred and rolled to face Rafael.

“Morning,” he said smiling at Rafael.

“Good morning, mi amor,” Rafael said, kissing him. “How did you sleep?”

“I don’t remember the last time I’ve slept this much.”

Rafael laughed softly. “Well, if it’ll help, we can get coffee on the way in.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Rafael smiled and moved back so he was up against Sonny. They had time before they had to actually get up and make their way to work.

“I missed you,” he said, tilting his head up and kissing him again.

“I missed you too Rafa. I haven’t been gone this long since I did UC work.”

“I remember completely being worried you wouldn’t come home. God that was terrible.”

“I’m glad I don’t have to do that anymore.”

“I’m glad too. You don’t know how many nights I went without sleep because I wanted to be awake to hear my phone in case anything happened. I thought about you a lot. I thought about everything that could possibly go wrong. Olivia was nice enough to not call me and would just talk to me if she saw me on the street. She knew how worried I was, and a call from her would have made me assume the worst.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me putting my life on the line anymore.”

“And for that, I am eternally grateful. I worried about you, mi amor. I worried something would happen to you and I wouldn’t find out about it until it was too late.”

Sonny kissed his forehead. “Rafa, it’s sweet you were so worried about me. I was always in good hands. Besides, you know I can take care of myself.”

“I know Dominick, but still. Unexpected things happen all the time, and I was just so afraid something would go wrong and you wouldn’t come home. Alex and Casey tried to calm my fears, but I was too focused on _what if something went wrong_ that I couldn’t believe what they were saying. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me Dominick. Losing you would absolutely kill me.”

“Trust me Rafa, you don’t have to worry about me going anywhere anytime soon. You’re the best thing that’s happened to _me_ , and I really do love you more than anything.”

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” Rafael said leaning up for another kiss.

“You’re you Rafa. You’ve supported me when it seemed like no one else was. You helped me pass the bar. I don’t think I would have passed it without your help.”

“You always say that Dominick. You always say you wouldn’t have passed the bar without my help. You’re intelligent. You know what you’re doing. I guarantee you still could have passed the bar exam without my help.”

“Well, you definitely helped. At least accept the fact you supported me when no one else really has been.”

“I will accept that. People just can’t truly understand how much you’ve accomplished. They don’t understand that you went to law school at one of the top night schools in the country while simultaneously working full time as a detective. You studied for and took the bar exam while working full time as a detective. I know you didn’t get much sleep, but you did well, mi amor, and you succeeded.”

“Before I took this job, Amanda and Olivia both were telling me I was a cop, not a lawyer. That stung more than I thought it would.”

“Dominick, they’re your friends. I don’t doubt that hurt you. You passed the bar exam, you’re a lawyer. They just didn’t want to understand that.”

“They didn’t want to lose me.”

“You’re doing what you want to, and you’re happy. They should be happy for you.”

He remembered how excited Sonny had been when he got the job.

_Rafael sat on the couch in the apartment he shared with his husband of three months reading over casenotes for the squad. He’d offered to continue giving legal advice even though he wasn’t prosecuting for them anymore. He heard the key turn in the door and smiled. The door opened and Sonny practically ran in, slamming the door behind him and fumbling with the lock before running over to Rafael._

_“Rafa, guess what?” he asked diving onto the couch next to Rafael._

_“What, mi amor?” Rafael replied, smiling at him._

_“You know how I interviewed at the DA’s Office a while back?”_

_“Of course I do.”_

_“I got the job.”_

_Rafael paused before responding. His heart soared. “Dominick, mi amor, congratulations! I’m so happy for you, and I am incredibly proud of you. You worked so hard for this, you absolutely deserve this,” he said wrapping his arms around him and giving him a quick kiss. He loved seeing Sonny that happy. His smile was infectious and made his heart melt._

_He knew the squad had been disrespecting him. He knew no one knew how hard he’d actually worked to get to where he was._

_“I- I honestly wasn’t sure whether or not I’d get this because there are so many people with more experience, and- I guess it helped that I’m a detective for SVU, so I have that experience, but I can’t believe I actually got it.”_

_“You know I’ll be here for any legal advice, right?”_

_“I know, thank you so much Rafa, I really appreciate it. Also, Jack McCoy wanted me to tell you he’s retiring, so the position of DA will be open if you’re interested.”_

_“He couldn’t have told me that tomorrow?”_

_Sonny shrugged. “He told me that right after he told me I got the job. I guess it couldn’t have waited.”_

_Rafael laughed. “I think I know why he didn’t want to wait. He wanted to wait to retire until after they’d hired a new ADA, and since there was the high possibility it would be you, he didn’t want me to decide that. He’s been trying to get me to go for the DA position for months.”_

_“Are you going to do it?”_

_Rafael shrugged. “Well, there’s no harm in trying.”_

_“You should Rafa. Everyone knows you’re one of the best prosecutors in the state. Why wouldn’t they vote for you?”_

_“I don’t know Dominick.”_

_“Come on. You know I’d be your biggest supporter, right? Well, besides Alex, Casey and your mother. And maybe Rita.”_

_“I’m happy to know you have so much faith in me, mi amor._ _If_ _I did run, and_ _if_ _I did get elected, you’d be working for me. Would that be weird?”_

_“No, of course not. I’d absolutely love working with you.”_

_“No offense, mi amor, but you say that now. That could change.”_

_“I doubt it will, but_ _if_ _it does, we can work something out.”_

_“I’ll try not to be too harsh on you.”_

_“I’d hope you wouldn’t be.”_

“I just wish they would stop acting like I didn’t work my ass off to get this.”

“They’ll come around, mi amor.”

“What if they don’t?”

“If they don’t, that would be unfortunate, but I want you to remember this, mi amor. I will always support you. No matter what happens, I will always have your back.”

Sonny took comfort in that promise. He knew that even if he felt like no one in his former squad supported him, Rafael always would.


End file.
